“My Most Beautiful Poems”: a tribute to Robert Zend at Cobourg’s TEXTual ARTivity

The April 1 opening of TEXTual ARTivity, a visual poetry exhibition at The Human Bean coffee shop in Cobourg, Ontario, featured readings by poets in attendance. Wally Keeler, one of the organizers, was good enough to videotape and upload the readings to YouTube.
Below is my reading, in which I present Robert Zend’s exhibited typescape, “Peapoteacock” and read “My Most Beautiful Poems,” from Zend’s book From Zero to One:
PS TEXTual ARTivity will continue as an annual event in Cobourg, and that’s great news!

2 responses to ““My Most Beautiful Poems”: a tribute to Robert Zend at Cobourg’s TEXTual ARTivity”

Discovering Zend’s website was quite a bit of a goldmine for me. I was a young man (17) when Robert would come to our house and reveal his stories that were full of wit, puns and endless provocations. My father, Kemenes Géfin László, welcomed Robert with open arms many a times…and instead of scurrying away from the supper table, I would often remain till the late hours along with the numerous Hungarian poets… just to listen to what they had to offer. Robert once wrote a parody of an evening at our house… which still has me rolling in stitches.
Thank you for all of this. I particularly enjoyed hearing the sound bits… as I had always enjoyed his accent and tone.
Just made my day.
Gyula Géfin

Dear Gyula, thank you for responding to this post on Robert Zend. I’m glad you’re enjoying the Robert Zend Website, which was created by his daughter Natalie Zend – it’s wonderful how she has drawn together various aspects of his work and life to create a beautiful and useful resource. And what a treat to hear about your memories of the late night poets’ talk and of Zend’s parody! Thanks again for sharing this – you made MY day!
Camille